Stalked by Death

Chapter 24

I was virtually powerless. Chase had dosed me with so much poison I couldn’t defend myself against the corpse. Alex pried the arms from my waist.

“Leticia, get Jodi out of here!” he yelled. Before Leticia could get to me, Chase scooped me into his arms. He sent waves of life-restoring power to me, and I instantly started to perk up. I wrapped my arms around him and leaned my head against his chest so I was touching him and soaking up his energy in as many places as possible.

“Don’t release that soul,” Chase said. “We fought too hard to get it here. That’s not even the soul’s body. Jodi is going to want to see this when she’s feeling up to it.”

I heard Chase command the soul to stay where it was, but mostly I was aware of how much I wanted to be close to him. He looked down at me, concern on his face. “I’ve got you. Take as much as you need.”

Why did he have to be two such completely different people? If he was always like this, he really could give Alex some competition. But the fact that Chase had nearly killed me two minutes ago made me realize that, no matter how nice he was on occasion, he was still mostly evil.

“You can stop now,” I told him. “I feel fine.”

“You sure? I don’t mind connecting with you again. If you think that would help. In fact, I’d love to. I’m sure these guys wouldn’t mind babysitting the soul for us.” He turned to Alex. “What do you say, Alex? Can you watch this corpse while me and my girl get some private time?”

“Stop it.” I smacked his chest. “Put me down. I’m fine now.”

He put me down, but he didn’t let go of my hand. “Just in case,” he said, and I knew he wasn’t talking about me needing a little more energy from him. He was making sure I didn’t step out of line. So much for the temporary glimpse of good I had seen.

I walked toward the corpse with Chase at my side. “We didn’t have your body to return you to,” I said to the soul. “Hades took it, but we need to speak with you, so we’re letting you borrow this body for now. Do you understand?”

The soul practically growled at me, but she nodded her head—or should I say his head because the body she entered was a male.

“Sorry about the gender mix-up. We didn’t know which soul was going to respond to our call.”

She/he continued to growl at me.

“Okay, stop.” I put my hand up to her/his face. “I’m trying to have a civil conversation with you. I know you went through hell to get here, but please work with me.”

The corpse stopped growling, not because it wanted to, but because I’d commanded it to. I looked at Alex, trying to silently tell him that this was the kind of thing I was hoping to be able to use Chase’s power for. At least this might help us. Alex only met my eyes for a second before looking away. He was in agony. I could tell. I had to figure things out quickly before this thing with Chase really did end my relationship with Alex for good.

I turned back to the corpse. “What can you tell me about where you were? Did you see Hades? Did you see the others he took?”

The soul moved awkwardly in the corpse, not at all at home in its unfamiliar body. It reminded me of those horror movies where the zombies and possessed people bend in inhuman ways. I tried my best not to cringe. After all, I’d done this to the poor soul.

“Stop playing nice, Jodi, and make the thing talk.” Chase’s voice was full of anger. He dug his fingers into my hand as a warning. Either I hurt the soul or he was going to hurt me.

Alex clenched his fist, but he didn’t move to help me. I looked at him briefly, letting him know I was okay, that I could handle this. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure I could.

“Tell me your name,” I commanded the soul.

“Rebecca Ellison,” the corpse said in a rather masculine voice.

“Hi, Rebecca. I know Hades has your body trapped. Tell me where he brought you and the others.” I had to remember to phrase my questions as demands to ensure an answer, but I was still trying to be a little nice about it.

“Tartarus,” the corpse spit out.

“What’s Tartarus?” McKenzie asked.

Jared shook his head. “Really? Tony taught us all about it. It’s the part of the underworld that people refer to as Hell.”

Lexi laughed. “‘A place of profound misery.’” I could tell she was mocking Tony.

I couldn’t be bothered with them right now. We weren’t supposed to be able to raise souls from Tartarus. Hades kept them protected from us. “Hades brought you to Tartarus? Tell me how he’s torturing you and the others.”

“Like this!” The corpse raised its arms. “Forcing us into each other’s bodies. The pain is unbearable. He removes us briefly and fakes pity, only to shove us into other bodies that are not our own. I thought I was finding freedom coming with you, but you’re as bad as Hades!”

I staggered backward, but Chase put his hand against my back to stop me. “My God.” My voice was barely a whisper. “What have we done?” I looked at Chase in horror.

“I think this is a good thing. Hades won’t be angry when he finds out we’re torturing the souls the same way he is.” He smiled. “I think we found the answer to our problems, hon.” He wrapped me in a hug and picked me up off the ground. My arms were pinned to my sides, and my lungs tightened.

Chase put me down, and I looked at Alex. I needed to talk to someone rational, and that wasn’t Chase. “Do you think he took those bodies from my room because he knew I’d try this?”

Alex shook his head and stepped toward me. Chase grabbed my hand again, but he didn’t push Alex away. He let him talk. “I don’t know, but it does make sense. He took your father. That pretty much bought him insurance of exactly this.”

“I’m playing right into his games.” I’d done what Hades had wanted me to. “All I wanted was to talk to my dad again and see what Hades was doing in the underworld. I thought he could spy for us.”

“I can spy,” the corpse said.

I wrinkled my forehead at her/him. “Why would you do that? You said this is torture. I’m doing the same thing to you that Hades is.”

“Yes, but he does it repeatedly. It’s the initial act of shoving the soul into the wrong body that is so painful. I can adapt a little once I’m here. It’s still torture, but not as bad.”

“Then, I could bring my dad here.”

“Jodi!” Alex looked appalled. “She said it was torture. Why would you put your own father through that?”

“Because she said this isn’t as bad as what Hades is doing.”

“Are you sure about this?” Alex’s voice was soft and full of emotion. I was waiting for Chase to notice and punish me for it. I had to avoid that.

I put my hand on Chase’s arm. “I want to try raising all the souls Hades took. Every single one of them. Let’s create an army of souls. Let’s take back what is ours.”

Chase smiled at me. “Now that deserves a reward.” He leaned down and kissed me. At first, it wasn’t a reward at all. I had to pretend I wasn’t turned off by him, and with Alex watching that wasn’t easy. But then Chase transferred his power to me through his lips, and in seconds I was all over him. The power was intoxicating, and I wanted more. Chase’s arms were around me, caressing my back and sending ripples of energy through me. I moaned in response.

“That’s enough!” Alex ripped me from Chase’s arms. I staggered back, resisting the urge to grab Chase and continue what we’d started. Alex turned me toward him, and the pain on his face brought me back down to earth.

“What the hell, man?” Chase was in Alex’s face. “Keep you hands off my girlfriend. If I want to kiss her, I will. Got that?”

“Chase.” I reached for his arm, pulling him away from Alex, but Chase shot me with a dose of poison strong enough to send me flying backward onto the ground.

“Jodi!” Leticia rushed to me.

Lexi was laughing, and the others stared, looking like they wanted to intervene but not sure if they should. Chase didn’t even look at me.

He had no remorse for hurting me. Alex stared at me, his nostrils flaring.

He was done. He’d had enough. He lunged at Chase, and they toppled to the ground, wrestling each other. Alex got in a few good punches at first, but then Chase managed to flip over, sending Alex falling to the side. Alex hit his head on a tombstone and looked dazed.

“Chase!” I rushed to him, already mixing my blood. I placed both of my hands on his chest and sent my biggest burst of power into him. He smiled and lay back down on the ground, absorbing my gift. I turned to the others. “Take Alex inside. Get him to Arianna. Go now! I can’t do this for too long without getting power back in return.”

Leticia nodded and went for Alex. Jared gave in and helped, along with McKenzie. Lexi shook her head and walked inside alone. She wasn’t helping. I watched them bring Alex inside. My power was weakening. I didn’t have much more to give. The front door of the school closed, and I let go, slumping forward onto Chase’s chest.

“You dosed me,” he said, sounding euphoric from my power. “I’m not saying I didn’t love it, but you tried to control me.”

“Like you do to me.”

He laughed. “Well, look at that. I’m making your true colors come out after all.”

He wanted to think he and I were the same, but we weren’t. I’d only done that to help Alex. But the thought I couldn’t seem to shake, the one that haunted me, was why I hadn’t dosed Chase with poison. That would’ve shown him how much he had hurt me. Why did I give him pleasure when all he deserved was pain?

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said.

“Believe me, you don’t.” I pushed myself off him, still feeling lightheaded and weak.

“You did it because now you need me to take care of you. You like it when I take care of you, Jodi.” He sat up and brushed the hair from my face.

“I’m not a pet, Chase. You can’t reward me or punish me as you see fit.”

“You rewarded me for keeping Alex away from you.”

Did he really think that’s what had happened? I mean, sure, I did give him a power boost, but it was only to distract him. Wasn’t it?

He laughed again. “One of these days, you’re going to learn to listen to me. I’ll make sure of it.”

I didn’t want to piss him off and have him dose me with poison when I was already so drained, but I had to know something. “Why do you continue to hurt me? When you first came here, you tried to lure me with your good blood. That’s how you got what you wanted, Chase. Not by poisoning me. Now you’re driving me away. You must know that.”

He reached for the back of my neck. “Then let me make it up to you.” His fingers tingled against my skin, and I soaked up his power. He didn’t need to pull me to him this time. I was starved of power, and I went to him willingly. I was lost in him until I heard McKenzie’s voice.

“Excuse me!” she shouted.

Chase pulled away first, smiling at me as I tried to bring his lips back to mine. “We have company.”

I looked up at McKenzie, and the embarrassment set in. I jumped to my feet, feeling like myself again. “Sorry, do you need something?”

McKenzie shook her head. “I came to tell you that Arianna’s got Alex all bandaged up. He asked to talk to you. Should I tell him you’re too busy making out with the guy who assaulted him?”

“No!” I said.

“Yes.” Chase narrowed his eyes at me. “You don’t need to be talking to him right now. Not after he attacked me. It’s me you should be concerned about.” He turned to McKenzie. “We were doing fine before you got here, so go find someone else to annoy.”

Chase was losing it. Before, he’d been trying to make me look like the bad one to the rest of the group, but now he wasn’t even trying to hide the evil in him.

“McKenzie,” I said, but Chase grabbed my wrist.

“Don’t make me, Jodi.”

McKenzie backed away from Chase, clearly afraid of him.

What could I do? “Tell Alex I’m busy with Chase right now.”

McKenzie looked at me, her eyes full of fear. “You can’t even protect yourself. How will you ever protect the rest of us?” In her eyes, I should’ve been able to stop Chase. I was the most powerful Ophi. The fact that I’d become his puppet was making her think I was the worst leader ever. She walked away, not giving me the chance to explain.

“See,” Chase said, “I didn’t have to hurt you because you did the right thing on your own.”

McKenzie was right. I couldn’t even protect myself. I had to get to Alex.

“We’re probably missing lunch. We’ve been out here for a long time.”

“Then let’s go to lunch. And since you seem to like musical chairs so much, why don’t you and I sit together? I’ll take Alex’s seat. He won’t be needing it, I’m sure.”

I really wanted to smack him. “I’m going upstairs to wash up quickly first.”

“I’ll go with you, make sure you don’t get lost.”

Lost in Alex’s room was what he meant, and that was exactly what I was planning to do. How could I get rid of Chase? I wracked my brain as I released the woman’s soul. I felt awful about sending her back to Tartarus. Maybe I’d take her up on her offer to spy. Chase and I headed to the school. When we walked inside, Arianna was coming down the stairs.

I widened my eyes at her and tilted my head slightly toward Chase. Arianna reached for me. “Oh, Jodi, good. I need to borrow you for a minute.” She tried to pull me away, but Chase wouldn’t let her.

“What for?” he asked.

Arianna gave him the same look you’d give a dog that just peed on the floor. “Now, Chase, I know you aren’t questioning me. I’m much older than you. So, you get your sorry behind into the dining room, and I’ll bring Jodi there myself when I’m finished talking to her.”

I gave Chase a small shrug, pretending I had no idea what this was about. He reached for my hand, no doubt to dose me with his power, but I moved toward Arianna and he only managed to graze my jeans. I felt the heat from his scorching touch. He’d been planning to bring me to my knees to stop me from going with Arianna. This guy was seriously scary.

He watched us walk upstairs, but he didn’t try to stop or follow us. Arianna took me to Alex’s room. “Whatever you two are planning, do it quickly,” she whispered. “That boy downstairs is determined to have you, and I’m convinced he’d sooner kill you than let you go.”

I wanted to break down and tell Arianna everything. How Chase had been controlling me. How much he scared me. How I wanted to get rid of him, but I needed his power so I couldn’t. She didn’t give me a chance to say anything. She opened Alex’s door and brought me to his bed, where he was lying with a cold pack on his head.

“Are you okay?” I carefully sat next to him.

“Are you?” He turned his head slightly to face me.

“I’ll let you two talk.” Arianna walked to the door. “But I’m staying in the hallway. I’m going to walk you to lunch, Jodi. I’m not giving Chase any opportunities to corner you.”

I smiled and nodded, and she shut the door behind her.

I wanted nothing more than to hold Alex and feel his lips on mine. But I could still taste Chase, and I didn’t want Alex to know what had happened after he left the cemetery.

“Things are getting worse, Jodi. I had no idea he was hurting you like this. And the way you cling to him when he kisses you—”

“I’m so sorry. I can’t help it. You know that, right? It’s the power. It has nothing to do with wanting Chase. You’re the one I want, Alex.”

“I know, but it’s hard to watch you like that. It’s like you can’t get enough of him. Like you’re trying to devour him. You’ve never kissed me like that.”

Alex and I had had some kisses that could stop time, so it really made me wonder what it looked like when I kissed Chase. My cheeks warmed. “I get power hungry.”

He nodded, but that only made him cringe and clutch his head.

I touched my hand to his face. “Can I try something?”

“What?” He wrinkled his brow. “No offense, but you were kissing Chase earlier. You probably can still taste him. I love you, Jodi, but I refuse to kiss you until you brush your teeth. Twice.”

“Just shut up.” I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his. I mixed my blood and let my power transfer to him. I’d only ever tried this with Chase, but why wouldn’t it work with Alex? He didn’t have the extra power boost Chase had, but I wasn’t taking anything from him. I was giving him energy to heal.

Alex pulled me on top of him and ran his hands all over my back. He couldn’t get enough of the power. I knew the feeling. I didn’t want to overdose him since he was injured, so I slowly backed off on the power and pulled away.

“Holy crap,” he said with a sigh. “That was amazing.”

“Now you know.”

He sat up and removed his bandages. He was obviously no longer in pain from his collision with the tombstone, but his face wasn’t elated anymore. His expression was worried. “That’s how it feels to kiss Chase?”

“You couldn’t get enough of me or my power, right? You craved it. You were helpless against it.”

He moved me off him and got out of bed. “I’m not okay with this. Knowing he can make you feel that good and I can never do that for you…I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can be together, Jodi.”